Which to use
“stately” is an adjective and “states” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,600
- “stately” frequency rank
- #282
- “states” frequency rank
- 24882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stately | states |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Worthy of respect; dignified, regal. | plural of state |
Where the eye mixes stately and states
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. stately runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against states's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses stately with states
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stately is /ˈsteɪtli/ while states is /steɪts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stately is recorded at frequency rank #24,600, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsteɪtli/. states is at rank #282, tagged as anoun, pronounced /steɪts/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 24882, this pair ranks #398,616 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stately vs states
Shared letters: aest. Private to "stately": ly. Private to "states": -.
"stately" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "states" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stately" and "states" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "stately" or "states" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "stately" and "states" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "stately" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "states" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #398,616 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stately" and "states" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "starkly vs stately". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #398,616 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.